Petroleum vs crude oil

LONDON: Oil prices were dragged sharply lower on Friday by weak US fuel demand, fears of a second wave of coronavirus cases in South Korea and a worsening in US-China relations, but were still on track for a hefty monthly gain. July Brent crude fell $1.16, or 3.3 per cent, to $34.13 a barrel by 0927 GMT while the more active August contract fell $1.11, or 3.1 per cent, to $34.92. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was down $1.28, or 3.8 per cent, at $32.43. Both contracts were on course for their first weekly loss after for consecutive weeks of gains that leave them set for the biggest monthly gains in years thanks to production cuts and optimism over Chinese-led demand recovery, analysts said. WTI is on track for a record monthly gain of 72 per cent in May, with Brent set for a 35 per cent increase that would represent its strongest monthly rise since March 1999. "The global reaction to China's move to propose new security laws for Hong Kong continues to increase, while … [Read more...] about Crude oil prices fall but remains set for biggest monthly gain in years

New Delhi: At least in the oil sector, the global health emergency posed by the spread of the novel coronavirus has come to the country's advantage.India's oil import bill has fallen close to 10 per cent in FY20 as the increasing spread of coronavirus and demand squeeze globally has depressed the crude oil prices to about 30 a barrel now against a high of over $ 70 a barrel in September and again in January this year. According to provisional data from Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC), in FY20 India's oil import bill slipped to $ 101.4 billion from a level of $ 111.9 billion in previous fiscal FY19. The lower import bill last year came even as quantum of imports increased marginally to 227 million tonnes (MT) from 226.5 MT reported in the previous fiscal. The fall has come mainly on account of generally lower crude oil price in FY20 with the sharp decline of over 50 per cent witnessed in March. The low oil price of around $20 a barrel in April, and expectation that crude may … [Read more...] about India oil import bill falls 10% to $101 billion in FY20

New Delhi: At least in the oil sector, the global health emergency posed by the spread of the novel coronavirus has come to the country's advantage.India's oil import bill has fallen close to 10 per cent in FY20 as the increasing spread of coronavirus and demand squeeze globally has depressed the crude oil prices to about 30 a barrel now against a high of over $ 70 a barrel in September and again in January this year. According to provisional data from Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC), in FY20 India's oil import bill slipped to $ 101.4 billion from a level of $ 111.9 billion in previous fiscal FY19. The lower import bill last year came even as quantum of imports increased marginally to 227 million tonnes (MT) from 226.5 MT reported in the previous fiscal. The fall has come mainly on account of generally lower crude oil price in FY20 with the sharp decline of over 50 per cent witnessed in March. The low oil price of around $20 a barrel in April, and expectation that crude may … [Read more...] about India oil import bill falls 10 per cent to $101 bn in FY20

Who needs a loss-making, inflexible oil refinery in a world where demand for petroleum has been obliterated? We’re about to find out.When consumption of transport fuels collapsed this year because of coronavirus, much of the industry moved into survival mode, cutting processing rates and even temporarily stopping refining in some cases. While that helped prop up the industry’s margins for a while, a combination of rising crude costs and still-weak end-user demand are starting to bite.With many oil traders and analysts expecting a slow and uncertain recovery in demand, there’s now an open question about where that leaves refineries supplying tens of billions of barrels of fuel each year. It seems likely that many of the weaker plants will be permanently shuttered.“The Covid situation has accelerated the rationalization process that was always coming,” said Spencer Welch, vice president of oil markets and downstream consulting at IHS Markit. “It will … [Read more...] about View: Covid-19 will hasten the demise of many oil refineries

NEW YORK: Oil prices soared on Friday, with US futures closing out May with record monthly gains, on hopes that the US-China trade deal would remain intact and on falling crude production. West Texas Intermediate crude futures for July delivery settled at $35.49 a barrel, jumping $1.78, or 5.3%. July Brent crude closed at $35.33 a barrel, gaining 4 cents. However, the more active August contract ended at $37.84, rising $1.81, or roughly 5%. Both benchmarks saw steep monthly rises due to falling global production and expectations for demand growth as parts of the United States, including New York City, and other countries move to reopen after coronavirus-related lockdowns. WTI recorded an all-time monthly rise of 88% after trading negative last month. Brent logged an increase of about 40% for its strongest monthly bounce since March 1999. US President Donald Trump said his administration will begin to eliminate special treatment for Hong Kong in response to China plans to impose … [Read more...] about Oil surges 5% on US-China trade optimism, falling crude output